Spanish court dismisses case in relation to Neymar's transfer to Barcelona

A Spanish court dismissed a case Friday that was brought by DIS Esporte, a Brazilian investment fund, and pertained to Neymar's controversial transfer from Santos FC to Barcelona.

In a victory for Neymar and Barcelona, Judge Jose de la Mata of the Audiencia Nacional rejected a case of fraud and corruption in which DIS said it is owed for the Brazilian phenom's move to the Blaugrana. The investment fund held 40 percent of the player's sports rights when he was at Santos, but claimed it was shortchanged upon receiving €6.8 million of the €17.1 million that Santos received from the Catalan club, rather than 40 percent of the transfer's total cost, which is near to €100 million.

However, while De la Mata dismissed the case because it "cannot be pursued in the criminal courts," he also acknowledged that a civil case may proceed since Barcelona didn't follow FIFA's transfer rules.

"It seems clear that Futbol Club Barcelona, Neymar, and his father clearly did not follow the obligations imposed by FIFA's transfer statutes," the judgment said, according to Dermot Corrigan of ESPN FC. "The contract Neymar Jr. had signed with Santos FC was not respected. They did not communicate in writing with Santos their intention to open (or close) negotiations.

"They did not ask for authorisation to that end. They negotiated during the period of the contract and outside the permitted time of the last six months. They made and received multi-million payments just eight days before a huge game in football history."

In June, Barcelona agreed to pay a fine of €5.5 million to settle a case of tax fraud over Neymar's transfer, absolving Josep Bartomeu and Sandro Rosell - the Blaugrana's current president and former president, respectively - of any wrongdoing.

Related: Barcelona to pay €5.5M fine over Neymar tax fraud case

Barcelona initially said Neymar's transfer was valued at €57 million, but the case's first investigating magistrate, Pablo Ruz, argued he cost €83 million, and alleged the Blaugrana hid the real price in a tangle of contracts. The Catalan club eventually admitted the cost was near €100 million.